Chapter 856
Breakout
Jingyuan wasn't stupid. As soon as Pan Yun looked northeast, he guessed that the emperor had changed his itinerary again.
He has been away from the capital for more than a month, and what he has experienced most is the ever-changing and unpredictable orders.
Therefore, he was not at all surprised that the emperor suddenly changed direction and retreated to the northeast.
Whatever the reason, what hasn't he seen?
He just wanted to find the emperor as soon as possible.
In the northeast direction, the only place that could attract the emperor was Huailai City.
Huailai City, with Xuanfu as its defensive line, should theoretically be safe.
With Wang Zhen's meager military knowledge, he might actually have persuaded the emperor to travel from south to north, thus wasting time going back the way he came.
So, Jingyuan headed straight for Huailai City.
Before he even arrived, only thirty miles from Tumu Fort, he spotted a bright yellow figure amidst the thousands of troops.
The guards following behind also had bloodshot eyes, and pointed at the bright yellow on the horse's back, shouting: "His Majesty is surrounded!"
Jingyuan reined in his horse and looked down into the distance. He was also very anxious, but the enemy's numbers were obviously far greater than those of the Ming Dynasty, and he only had about a hundred personal guards.
"We have to think of a way..."
Jing Yuanxin felt as if he were on fire, and just as he was feeling extremely uncomfortable, he saw dust rising from the northwest.
His heart skipped a beat: "The Oirats have reinforcements?"
One of the soldiers, a scout with excellent eyesight, looked around for a while before saying, "It's Ming soldiers! General, they're our men!"
Jingyuan stared intently and realized that they were indeed raising the banner of the Ming Dynasty.
Jingyuan was overjoyed and immediately sent scouts to meet them, instructing them to infiltrate from the northwest and then break out from the west to bring the emperor and his entourage out.
He led the remaining men, charging down the hillside and into the enemy ranks...
When Jingyuan entered, it was the most difficult time for the army. The Oirat had been pursuing them for a day and a night and had lost patience.
Seeing that they had a firm grip on that bright yellow color, he became enraged and disregarded the Khan's order to capture him alive, immediately ordering the archers to fire.
Arrows flew from all directions, and Xia Zheng wielded his sword to cut them down. After a night of contemplation, Xia Zheng was able to face his impending death, so he wielded his sword with fierce power and fearlessness, and was even able to protect Cao Nai, the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, who was standing next to him.
Bayan Temur's face was ashen. Upon seeing the Ming army rushing down the hillside to provide support, he immediately drew his bow and arrow, firmly locking down the Duke of Ying.
In his view, the reason why this group of Ming soldiers was able to hold out for a day and a night without dispersing was entirely due to the old man at the very front.
If it weren't for him, how could the Ming army have broken through their encirclement?
However, they certainly didn't expect that they also had people lying in ambush in the south.
Yang Jun couldn't stop them at all.
Bayan Temur drew his bow to its fullest extent, and an arrow shot like a meteor toward a man in the center of the crowd...
As if sensing something, the Duke of England suddenly looked up, raised his spear and swung it, just barely touching the arrow. The next moment, the arrow trembled slightly and pierced his left shoulder with a soft thud, just missing the bone.
He grunted, his expression unchanged, and swept a Mongol down with his spear. Then, he caught the spear, quickly snapped the arrow in half with his right hand, and continued to fight. Jingyuan watched from afar, his heart aching. He deeply admired the Duke of Ying, and he himself was over seventy years old. He never imagined that at an age when he should be enjoying his retirement, he would suffer such hardship on the battlefield.
Jingyuan swung his sword with even more force, charging into the encirclement with almost one strike at a time.
At the same time, the reinforcements' cavalry also rushed to the outer perimeter. Bayan Temur turned his head and saw a vast cloud of dust rising in the sky, from the west and southwest.
Unable to ascertain the size of the enemy reinforcements, he had no choice but to order: "Retreat—"
But he was unwilling to withdraw, so he ordered all the cavalry and archers to shoot arrows at that bright yellow figure, without any regard for the lives of his soldiers.
As the Oirat retreated, they drew their bows and shot arrows. In an instant, the sky was filled with black lines of arrows that fell vertically after being shot into the air.
When Pan Yun and the others arrived, this was the scene they saw. She leaped out of the Three Treasures Cauldron, her long sword sweeping across, and she reached the top of their heads faster than an arrow.
The longsword swept across the room and flew back to her feet with a whoosh. Pan Yun stood on it, made a hand seal, and a powerful beam of energy overflowed from her palm. With a whoosh, a semi-circular protective shield enveloped the person in the center.
Just as the Yuan Guang formed a protective shield, arrows rained down on it.
Pan Yun groaned, held on for two breaths, and then fell, the falling arrow like a leaf that had lost its strength.
Such a strange phenomenon left everyone dumbfounded. Both the Oirat army and the Ming army were momentarily speechless.
The Duke of England was the first to react, pointing his spear at Bayan Timur and shouting to Pan Jun, "Kill him!"
An arrow slipped right from Pan Jun's hand. Without thinking, Pan Jun caught it, swung it, and the long arrow shot out in a flash...
Bayan Temur's eyes narrowed, and he swung his long sword, but missed, and the arrow pierced his heart with a thud.
He fell off his horse, his eyes wide with rage.
Before he collapsed, he gritted his teeth and ordered, "Kill the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and seize him at all costs!"
He'd rather die than let someone else die with him!
When their commander fell from his horse, the Oirat army panicked. Some fled in all directions, but most carried out his last order and launched a desperate final attack.
Pan Yun grabbed seven or eight arrows in mid-air. With a burst of Yuan energy, the arrows shot out and pierced the chests of seven or eight people. At the same time, she flew down from the sky with the arrows, sweeping down seven or eight people in an instant. She grabbed a falling saber and casually picked up Cao Nai, who had fallen under the saber, and threw him onto the horse.
Cao Nai almost thought he was going to die. He lay on his horse with his hands and feet ice-cold, but he still remembered the substitute. He pointed to the bright yellow figure in the distance. Pan Yun turned around and saw a knife emerging from his back. Pan Yun's pupils shrank. He leaped up, cleaved the knife that was about to be slashed at his neck, swept his sword horizontally, pinned the man in front of him, and charged outwards with the sword in one hand and the reins in the other.
Human strength has its limits. Pan Yun and the others were buried in the crowd. She couldn't even fly. Every time she tried to grab the people in front of her to break through, seven or eight guns would block her head from different places, and long knives would stab her from below. There were enemy troops on all sides, and no one came to her aid.
If Pan Yun hadn't been powerful enough and still had Yuan Qi within her, the two of them would have been chopped into mincemeat long ago.
Pan Xiaohei clung tightly to Pan Jun's clothes, seized an opening, and leaped out. His sharp claws slashed out, creating a gap in the spear formation. Pan Jun took advantage of the opportunity to rise up, grab the person in front of him, pierce through the remaining spears, and leap into the air. Dozens of arrows flew towards him from behind. He condensed a ball of Yuan energy in his palm, threw it behind him, and ran away into the distance without looking back. The arrows were knocked down behind him.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "The Ming Emperor has been assassinated! Retreat!"
The Oirat army retrieved Bayan Temur's body and fled.
However, the pursuing Ming reinforcements clearly had no intention of letting them go. They infiltrated and rescued more than ten high-ranking civil and military officials, then turned eastward to cut off their retreat and surround them. (End of Chapter)